Most Democrats Predicted A Cakewalk In Iraq, Too

They never used the world "cakewalk," but certainly they did believe Iraq would be a cakewalk.

How do I know this?

Because most Democrats voted in favor of the war, when it was clear, even at that time, they actually did not want to go to war in Iraq at all.

Most Democrats voted against the Gulf War -- the first Iraq war. They were stunned and embarrassed to find they'd voted the wrong way. Voting against that war was considered someting bordering on disqualification for running for the Presidency.

Hence John Kerry's flip-flop. He'd been burned once by voting against a speedy and spectacularly successful (and thus popular) war once; damned if he'd do it a second time.

What on earth possessed John Kerry to change his vote-- against the Gulf War, in favor of the War in Iraq?

The success of the Gulf War, of course -- and, more importantly, the expected similar outcome of the War in Iraq.

Anyone on the left want to tell me I'm wrong? Would Glenn Greenwald like to postulate a reason other than cynical political calculation in changing his basic position on the use of force?

Oh, right-- John Kerry says he mistook an Authorization for the Use of Miltary Force for an Authorization for the Use of Prudent Diplomacy. I guess it's an easy enough mistake to make.

So please, liberals -- stuff the complaints that conservatives expected Iraq to be far, far less costly a war, and won far, far more quickly.

So did all your liberal dearhearts, like Senator Hillary! Clinton.

The proof is in the voting.

If they didn't expect a cakewalk -- if they didn't believe there were WMD's, if they thought the war would slog on for three-plus grueling years -- why did they vote for it? Who would have voted for it, believing that?

And don't tell me they expected Bush to run the war better. They have called him incompetent and dangerously messianic since he took office. Half of Democrats believe he's actually partially retarded.

So stick the "We had faith in Bush's competence" claim up your ass, sideways. Only half the people in this country had any faith in Bush's competence, and we all know it was not the Democrats.

And again I ask: What's worse -- voting for a war you believe in, or voting for a war you don't believe in just because you don't want to damage your political viability?

posted by Ace at 04:29 PM

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